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Just let me say that I have brought along with me a book of photographs. You'll see, because tonight we have to study, as best we may, the final vision given to Daniel as recorded in his book. Uh, it covers three whole chapters, chapter 10, 11, and 12. Chapter 10 and chapter twelve. introduce us to the great subject, the central subject of Daniel's vision, which was a vision of the man above the river. Now the middle chapter, chapter eleven, is exceedingly detailed, and it talks about the kings of the n- north and the kings of the south and their political dialogues and conferences and their marriage arrangements and so forth and so on. And I, for one, confess I find it very difficult to keep it all in my head, you see, and to regard them as real people. So I thought you might care, while you're eating your buns and and drinking your coffee afterwards, to come and look at some of the photographs of these people, not taken from them right there then, because alas, they hadn't got photographs nor computers in those days, but they had coinage, you'll see. And here are photographs of the actual coins and the pictures of these men. This one here on the right, i- on on your right, yes, is a picture of Antiochus IV, Antiochus Epiphanes. He was the one that set up the abomination that made desolate in the temple at Jerusalem. Therefore, your enjoyment or horror is his picture, you'll see. If you turn back a little way, you will find pictures of the kings of the south. The kings of the north, among whom Antiochus Epiphanes was, were the successors of Seleucus and therefore are called Seleucids. The kings of the south were the successors of the Greek general Ptolemy, and they're called therefore, the Ptolemies, do you see? So there are some photographs of them as well. And the ladies, who knows, might be interested. There's even a photograph of Cleopatra, do you see? Of great fame, I understand, do you see? Now, if you look at it, uh, uh, do you see, you can pretend you're looking at Antiochus, but, um, if you want to look at Cleopatra, there she is, do you see? I, um, make sure you get the right Cleopatra because there was an earlier Cleopatra, Cleopatra Thea. Uh, this is the famous Cleopatra. I warn you, you may be disappointed. She, she doesn't look quite so romantically beautiful, at least not on her coin, as we're given to, uh, uh, imagine, you see. But then I'm no judge of these things anyway, so I leave that to you, uh, to see, but there they are, and, uh, you may come afterwards and, um, uh, peruse them as you please. Then this evening we are to look at the final vision then. As you'll see, the two visions we've had of the beast, the four beasts in chapter seven, and then chapter eight, the two beasts. We've had the vision given to Daniel in chapter nine. about the destruction and then the restoration of Jerusalem. Now we come to the final vision that occupies chapters ten, eleven, and twelve. You may notice at once certain things are, uh, that they have in common. In chapter five, the end of the first section, the story reached its dramatic point when there came forth a hand and wrote on the plaster of Belshazzar's banqueting hall. Here there is another reference to the writing, this time as one of the angels is sent to Daniel, sent in order to make known to him what is written in the writing of truth, that is in the eternal recorded purposes of God in heaven. Now the vision is in three parts. Chapter ten is the vision of the man above the river. Chapter, uh, twelve, from verse five to thirteen, we are once more introduced to the man above the river, and shall hear him speak and take an oath in the name of God. The middle piece is a very long detailed piece. It is the prophecy of the wars of the Ptolemies, that's the kings of the south in Egypt, and the Seleucids, they were the kings from the north based in Syria, uh, and of the final king that shall come out of that succession, namely the Antichrist himself. That's a very long, uh, and painful period in the history of the Jews in their experience, and when we come to chapter twelve, we are told what the point of that long discipline is, and when the end shall come. We're told, in fact, that the end was when they have broken the power of the holy people. That is of the Jewish nation. So let's get our whereabouts again, if we can, chapter seven, eight, nine, and then ten, eleven to twelve. The issues at stake in the visions that are given in these chapters. First of all, in chapter seven, the survey of the four beasts, and then the notable horn that came out of the fourth, convicted of his attempt, uh, to blaspheme the Most High and to change the times and the laws that God had set down in his word for Israel. He shall wear out the saints of the Most High as he attempts to succeed. It this is then the blasphemy against the Most High and his attack on the people, the saints of the Most High. In chapter eight, though we didn't get time to study the detail, the question at stake is the question of truth. Not merely truth between man and man, but the question of God's revealed truth. What is truth? It is the question that our Lord raised with Pontius Pilate, didn't he? The question that was at stake in the cross of our Lord. When Pilate said, are you a king? Christ explained that he was a king of this sort. For this reason have I come into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth hears me. And Pilate, as he left to go out to the Jews and give his verdict, said, and what is truth? Truth doesn't always associate very easily with politics, does it? As you know, you see. But it is going to be the ultimate question at stake. What is truth? Is there a revealed truth from God, as the people of God claim and stand for? Or is it all a lot of empty nonsense, and is the victory given to those that have the biggest battalions and the biggest tanks? So he shall cause deceit to prosper. Which would remind you of what we we read in two Thessalonians chapter two verses nine to ten. He comes, does the Antichrist, with all lies, deceivable miracles. You'll see, if it possible, to deceive the very elect. His so-called claims, however, as he claims to be God and sits in the temple of God, showing himself to be God, are lies, of course. But we read the solemn word, God shall send people at that stage a strong delusion that they believe the lie, who had pleasure in unrighteousness and would not receive the truth. Life's big issues are exceedingly serious. Men and women can reject Christ as the truth of God and think that's a small detail of life. But at the end of this age, it shall become apparent that it is the vital issue. What is the truth? And if men and women knowingly have known and heard the truth and refuse to receive the love of the truth, it will come the point when God will say, have it your way then, and send them a strong delusion that they believe the lie. There's only two possibilities, you see, the truth or the lie. In chapter nine, as we saw last week, the issue at stake is Jerusalem City itself. Why is that important? Because Jerusalem City was the city of King David, God's appointed king, with whom God had made a covenant for all time and eternity. It is also, of course, the capital city of Israel, and to that city our Lord himself came, riding on a donkey, claiming to be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Is- of Zechariah chapter nine and verse nine. And the crowds around hailed him, recognizing the significance of what he was doing. Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. And the temple authorities told Christ to stop them talking such nonsense. Of course, he refused and said, if they should hold their voice, the very stones would cry out. Jerusalem City then, city of the great king to which he came. Thy king cometh to thee, Zion, meek and lowly of heart. It was Jerusalem city on this planet. You can go to the very spot if you care to. This is not a fairy tale. This is not a myth. This is a fact. There is still a city in the Middle East called Jerusalem, and outside its walls, he who claimed to be God incarnate, Israel's king, savior of the world, was taken by his human creatures and spiked to a cross. Just outside Jerusalem. The planet hasn't heard the last of it yet, you know. God is not going to say eventually, oh, let's forget it, it was two thousand years ago, let's just scrub it out. No, indeed not. He will vindicate his son yet. And our Lord shall come. Meanwhile, it was from Jerusalem city. About fifty days after his resurrection, that the apostles, obeying his command, went out to preach forgiveness in his name and reconciliation with God. They were told they were to do it from Jerusalem. And if you ask how you know the Christian gospel is true, the Bible will give you many answers, but this among them, this is the gospel that came from Jerusalem. If you have a gospel that didn't come from Jerusalem, you may doubt its veracity. For our gospel is linked to the great historical events and to the great historical person that was crucified just outside Jerusalem. The vision that we're going to look at tonight, chapters ten, eleven, and twelve— What is the issue at stake? We're told towards the end of chapter twelve, when they asked, how long shall the end of the times be, the time of the end. The time of the end shall last, so we're told, until they have broken in pieces the power of the holy people. That is Israel, of course, God's chosen people. That sounds severe, doesn't it? But God will yet allow Israel to be tested by the Antichrist. Why break them in pieces? What other way would you do it if you were God? How would you bring them to repentance? Paul discusses it at great length in Romans chapter nine, ten, and eleven. But Israel was the nation chosen of God through whom the Messiah should come, so that the world might know he was the Messiah because he came out of Israel. The disaster has been that Israel has turned around and told the world he isn't the Messiah. It won't do for them to say, but he said some nice things. That isn't the point. The point is whether he is the Messiah or not. Now they rejected him because, as they said, he claimed to be the Son of God, said the high priests to Pilate. We have a law, and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the Son of God. That offended him. In spite of the fact that he pointed to them that he was not merely the Messiah, Son of God, he was also God's suffering servant, come to bear in his body human sins on the tree, that Israel might be reconciled to God, forgiven, restored. But they rejected him. Felt they didn't need his salvation anyway. Righto. God shall eventually allow them the alternative. There shall come the Antichrist himself. And being a mere man, but empowered by Satan, shall sit in the very temple of God, showing himself to be God. They will bow down to him. Some of them will. Some will face the issue and repent, won't they? Behold, says Paul as he discusses the matter, the goodness and the severity of God. Some of the branches cut off, don't you Gentiles start getting uppish in your thinking. For we the Gentiles were wild olives indeed, but we've been grafted in to the olive tree. And if God has broken off some of the branches of the olive tree under his discipline, then he's able to graft them in again. And if he grafted you in, he's able to cut you out anyway. But all the wisdom of God, says Paul as he sums it up, of God's intention that he might save as many as is possible. So then we are to think of the two visions, the man above the river, as I said, and then in between the long prophecy of the wars of the Ptolemies and the Seleucids and their distressing effect on Israel. But let's start with the lovely side of the vision, shall we? And this is Daniel's book and chapter ten. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. And the thing was true, even a great warfare. And he understood the thing and had understanding of the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddikel, in modern English, the Tigris, I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of Uphaz, and his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to burnish copper, and the voice of the words like the voice of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw the great vision, and there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet I heard the voice of his words, and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I fallen into a deep sleep on my face, with my face toward the ground. An angel wakes him, and he has the long revelation given to him. Now let's come to chapter uh twelve, verse five. Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, there stood other two, the one on the bank of the river on this side, and the other on the brink of the river on that side. And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, how long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time, times and a half. And when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not. Then I said, oh my Lord, what shall the issue of these things be? So let us spend some time on Daniel and his vision. And I wonder whether we can imagine in our minds the state of Daniel's mind as he stood this day by the great river Pidikur, the Tigris. He was now elderly. He had been taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, if you please. Had seen the Bolides and then Belshazzar and the end of Babylon. And now he had occupied eminent position in the Persian civil service. Now at last he was elderly by the great river Tigris. I can't tell you what it meant to him. I can tell you how I felt when, for the first time after the Second World War, I found myself in Germany, standing on the banks of the River Rhine. I said, is this the nation then that sent the endless bombers droning over my hometown, and the doodlebugs, and the V two s? It was an emotional moment, of course. It was, after all, for Daniel a foreign river, was the Tigris. Cool. See him there standing. Here goes the water, going on and on. I might borrow an English phrase, since Daniel first came to Babylon, a lot of water had passed under the bridges. And did he think? Of course, you wouldn't, yeah, we're youngsters, aren't you? But there will may come a day when you'll look back, you'll imagine you were a girl again just once more, and all those wonderful experiences, you know, when you had to decide some very important matters, to say, what to do with various opportunities and things. And, uh, remember your first job? Remember the times when you doubt whether you could stand the test and the temptation and prove God as real. I wonder whether Daniel thought back over the long years. Where would it all go now? Doubtless maybe he had lived in hope that one day Jerusalem would be restored and he would be welcomed to go back and see the triumph of faith. But he'd just been told in chapter nine that yes, Jerusalem would be restored in a certain way, but in troublous times, that is, as it was restored under Zerubbabel and uh, Ezra and Nehemiah. But then ahead were troublous times. There would come the abomination of desolation and severe persecution of the Jews. He was told that while Jerusalem would be restored, after the sixty nine weeks, the Messiah would be cut off. We'll have nothing. And unto the end, desolations were determined. He was too old now to go back with the exiles, going back to Jerusalem. Must he stand beside this river and see his hopes personally to see Jerusalem restored, disappointed, frustrated? When would the Messiah come? And what was this about Messiah being cut off? Whatever would happen. And the final week of the seventy didn't offer much hope. There would come the prince of the attackers. He would make a covenant for one week. In the middle of it, it would break it, and he would do away with the daily sacrifice and this, that, and the other thing, and God's wrath would be poured out upon him. Poor old Daniel, at the end of his long life. Where was the water going? Down the Tigris. And as he thought in his melancholy mood, he saw a man above the river, not in it, not standing on the waves and being carried down with the water, but a man stationary above the river. Who was that? The theologians disagree about it, don't they? But from the description that is given of him, man clothed in linen, his eyes like fire. And so forth. How can we escape the similarity between that and what is said of our Lord, for instance, in Revelation chapter one. And when we consider what happens at in chapter twelve, when this man lifted up his right hand to heaven and sware by him that lives forever and ever about the timing of the fulfillment of God's prophecies. Then I fancy we shall think of the vision that was given to John on the Isle of Patmos and is recorded in chapter uh eleven of that. When there came down a mighty angel and set his foot first on the land and then on the oceans, and he lifted up his hand to heaven, and in the other he held a book, and he swear by him that lived forever and ever that there should be delay no longer, but in the time when the seventh angel should sound, the purpose of God should come to their fruition. And when he further asked about the timing of it, then he was, we are told in Revelation twelve that the timing of the last trial put on by Antichrist against the holy people will be a time, two times, and half a time. That's three and a half. That's a half of seven, isn't it? So we're back again from the Revelation to the book of Daniel. This great figure above the river. He held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever. When he was asked, how long shall that last period of intense trial last? He says exactly the same as the figure in Revelation eleven. uh He said it shall last a time, times, and half a time. From all that evidence, I deduce that the one that appeared to Daniel above the river is nothing else than our Lord. In Daniel's time, the pre-incarnate Christ, a Christophany, as the theologians call it, the pre-incarnate Christ coming to comfort and inform his elderly servant. And if any of us are beginning to feel like, like Daniel, that we're pushing up in age and getting old and weak and troubled by all the desperate times that are coming upon the earth. And our youthful dreams, not all of them fulfilled. And plenty of unsolved questions. Oh, what a lovely thing. To know and catch sight of the blessed man that stands above the river. Above the river of our lives. He saw them coming, you know. He is the eternal. And now they're passing by. He's standing above the river. He can see where they will end, you see. He's able to say to Daniel, all right, Daniel, be of good courage, do you see? For you shall stand in your lot at the end of the days. Go thy way till the end be, for thou shalt rest and shall stand in thy lot at the end of the days. What a lovely consolation that is. Because, you see, beyond the flux of time, beyond the river of life here on earth, there stands the eternal, and every believer has his and her lot. That inheritance, that is your inheritance, not just an inheritance of the church, and I might be able to squeeze a little bit for myself if nobody's looking, um, but your inheritance, so that I may say to you in the name of the Lord Jesus, go your way, and you may rest. Maybe they will, one day you will fall asleep and you will be laid to rest. But even so, the Lord is coming, and you shall rise, as this very chapter says, and you shall stand in your lot at the end of the days. Oh, praise God for the certainty of the great eternity that is coming on ahead. Head. But the second big lesson that we have to learn from this passage, when we begin to look at its detail, is that while God has made his prophecies and promises, and they are sure of fulfillment, yet there is opposition to God's plans. At the highest level, among what the New Testament calls the principalities, the powers, the mights, and dominions, in the spirit world, there is intense opposition and every kind of attempt to frustrate the fulfillment of God's plans for his people. We are reminded in the New Testament, aren't we, in Ephesians chapter six, as Paul now writes from prison, commissioned to preach the gospel, but the great, uh, power of Rome had put him in prison. And he writes to the believers and exhorts them to pray, for he says, you see, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in the heavenly places. And the devil himself. Which calls, does it not, for spiritual stamina, and to faith to express itself in prayer, that through prayer we might win the day for God. So the angel comes and touches him. Look at verse ten. When the vision was over, behold a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. That's not the man above the river touching him. This is an angel. And he said unto me, O Daniel, thou man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee. Stand upright, for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then he said, uh, fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou did set thine heart to understand and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy word's sake. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days. But lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I then became unnecessary, is what the Hebrew means, with the kings of Persia. So I'm come to make you understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, do you see? The ministry of the holy angels. Not to be despised or forgotten. We are even told that in the Garden of Gethsemane, when our Lord sweat, as it were, great drops of blood under the strain of what he was facing, and cried, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Having won that victory, we're told in Luke that there appeared to him an angel strengthening him. And if the Son of God needed an angel at that moment, how much more we? I don't know whether you would like, like it if, like the mayor, you were surrounded in your car by a couple of flunkies, or like the Prime Minister with two chaps with bulging hips, you see, ready to protect them against all comers. That you'll feel somebody. You have, you know, servants. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those that are heirs of salvation? And here comes one of them. And he's telling Daniel about Michael, the archangel, the one whose chief responsibility it is to look after Israel, and what he has been doing. So then we have here exhortation to pray. Then we must face the long chapter eleven. And that will be a little bit tedious, but then you have, I believe, some coffee and tea to support you so that you don't completely faint like Daniel did. Um, I shall not attempt to expound all the detail of the chapter, even if I could. I just want to point out that in this chapter eleven there are four major movements in history. The first one starts in verse three. And a mighty king, uh, shall stand up and shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will. That is a reference to Alexander the Great. When he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his family, nor according to the dominion wherewith he ruled. We know what happened, how it was fulfilled. When Alexander died as a comparatively young man, he was succeeded by four of his army generals, two of whom became very famous. One of them was called Ptolemaeus. We call them Ptolemies. They ruled in Egypt, where Alexander had conquered the country. Then there was Seleucus, and he got Syria. So now, for some many years, we have the Seleucid kings north of the land of Israel, where Syria is and beyond, and we had the Ptolemies in the south for many long years. And that wouldn't have mattered a lot had it not been that they hated the sight of each other most of the time, these two lots of Alexander's successors. And so the king of the south, the Ptolemies, he tried to come up, and at first he ruled Palestine and ruled the Jews. But then the king of the north attacked him and won the day, and he took over the Jews. The Seleucids took over. And generally speaking, they weren't content unless the kings of the north and the kings of the south were fighting each other constantly. And you see, it was a very desperate danger for the Israelites because the way from Egypt to Syria, as you may know, who come up from Egypt, well, you hug the coast and you go along the plain, and eventually you bypass Jerusalem, which stands up here on its rock, and the temple, you bypass that and go up here to Syria along the plain, you see. So when the Egyptians, the Ptolemies were with their armies, they came up here, and when the Northerns came, they came down the coast road, and very often they fought in between. And that meant that the Jerusalem never felt secure, you'll see. And indeed, at one stage, the king of the north, Antiochus Epiphanes, whose coin is there for you to see, he persuaded the high priests of Israel to join with him and ditch the notion completely that Jehovah was the one true God and all the others were idols. Persuaded the high priests to agree with him that Jehovah was only one name for the same God as the Greeks called Zeus and the Syrians called Baal. That didn't matter what you call them. All religions were the same, really. And when the high priests agreed with this Antiochus Epiphanes, and he put the abomination of desolation in the temple itself, a statue in honor of Zeus, then, of course, the Maccabees among the Jews resisted and fought him tooth and nail, and there came the first persecution of the Jews for the sake of their faith. They'd often been attacked by other powers, but this was a persecution of the faithful in Israel for their faith. The first of many that have come since, witness Hitler and Stalin, persecution of the Jews for their faith, and the Crusades, and the so-called medieval church, and the inquisitions in Spain. So that, uh, this was a permanent threat. I want to point out then that there are three great periods. If you've got a pencil, mark them. I shall not say a lot about each one of them, but let's look. The first one begins in chapter eleven and verse three and goes down to verse twenty eight. The third one goes from chapter eleven verse twenty nine down to verse thirty five. The last one goes from eleven thirty six to chapter twelve, verse 4. Now I got to trouble you at this late hour, so if you're a client of be falling asleep, you may stand up at this point. I shall understand it's not a protest, but a good intent to keep awake, do you see? I must ask you to try and distinguish between terms that look alike, for you will read in this chapter eleven the phrase like end of times, you see. That simply means after a long while. If you say that they came and fought at the end of, at the end of times they came and fought, that means after a long while in Hebrew. Quite distinct from that, and very important to notice, is the phrase, the time of the end. Not the end of times, but the time of the end. That is that short period at the end of the persecution, which is going to last three and a half years. And the lesson we're going to learn now is just this. From the point of view of the Israelites living in Israel, there would come circumstances when the kings of the south would come up and the king of the north would come up, and there they would be, and it looked as if now this was going to be the end. Now they would attack the holy temple. Now they would destroy the people. They would think it's the end, and some of them would think that this is going to, this is marvelous, this is going to be the end, and Messiah will come. And they had to be warned that though there would come in the course of history times when it looked as if all the signs were there, this is the end, and Messiah is about to come, it would all die down, and Messiah wouldn't come, and it wouldn't be the end. And you can understand they'd be disappointed, can't you? Now, this is an important lesson to learn. I shall be- have to be careful, uh, how I say it, because otherwise I shan't get my cup of tea afterwards. But people say, I thought, Mr. Preacher, your job was to tell people that the coming of the Lord draws nigh, and here you are telling folks not to be so sure, you see. A- a- and so, so I better be careful what I say, hadn't I, what ho? And if you please don't tell tales about me out of school. But you see, mm-hmm, I do remember some things. Before the Second World War, round about the nineteen thirties, there was a preacher in England who concentrated on prophecy. Do you see? And he told the people, constantly told them, that there wasn't going to be a war. How was that? Well, because according to prophecy, and he gave all his reasons as he understood prophecy from the Old Testament and the New, prophecy relating to the Lord's coming. There wouldn't be another world war before the coming of Christ. And he taught this in many assemblies around about the place. Do you know what? There was another world war. And the result was that for some many years in certain parts of England, you couldn't talk about prophecy, not in the assemblies. They wouldn't listen to you. We've had enough of that, all this date fixing. But to come nearer home, let me remind you of what happened here in Northern Ireland in the early nineteen eighties, when there were some preachers, and they too had been studying prophecy, like all preachers ought to, of course. And they had taken our Lord's words, when you see the fig tree put forth her blossoms, know that the time of the second coming is near. And they said to themselves, well, the fig tree is a symbol of Israel, yes? And when Israel begins to shoot, so to speak, and revive as a nation, you'll know that the Lord's coming is very near, do you see? And then they read that other verse that our Lord said as he talked about the future. This generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. And they said, you know, a generation in the Bible, they said, it's forty years. Then they put two and two together. They said, when did Israel begin to put forth its blossom on the fig tree, so to speak? They said, well, it got its, it got its independence and became established as a nation in its own land in nineteen forty eight. That is the fact. So they, and now we apply, this generation shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled. nineteen forty eight plus four forty years comes, in most people's reckoning, to nineteen eighty eight, you see. And they said, the Lord is coming in nineteen eighty eight. I spoke to a very well-known, internationally known preacher. He said, David, there's surely something in it. Don't know if you remember, but the Lord didn't come in nineteen eighty eight. When people start fixing dates, I think God would be almost obliged not to put it on that date. We have to be careful, don't we? Which is the lesson that we learn from this, do you see? Take that first period. Uh, do you see? Uh, verse, uh, thirteen, and the king of the north is eleven thirteen, king of the north shall return and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former. He shall come on at the end of times, that is after a long time, even of years, with a great army and with much substance. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south. Also the children of the violent among thy people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision. They will say, this is it. This is the end. A Messiah is going to come. And what you need is some, a bit of good army know-how and to, uh, arm yourself, and we shall establish the vision. But they shall fall. You see, and after his great antics, they come there against him, shall do according to his own will, says verse sixteen. He shall stand before him, and he shall stand in the glorious land, and in his hand shall be destruction. And this would have looked very much like the end. This great army chief now from the north and from the south are going to meet, and in his hand is destruction. You'll think any minute now he will strike Jerusalem and the temple and destroy it. This is the end. What happened? And he shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom and upright ones with him, and he shall do his pleasure, and he will give him the daughter of women to corrupt her, but she shall not stand neither before him. And this, uh, uh, after this shall he turn his face unto the islands and shall take many, but a prince shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease. Yea, moreover, he shall cause his reproach to turn upon him. Then shall he turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall and shall not be found. So, that's the end of him. And it wasn't the time of the vision. And people were mistaken, trying to read the signs of the times. What then? The second, uh, great passage, verse twenty: They shall stand up in this place, one that shall cause an exactor to pass through the glory of the kingdom. And after much detail between the king of the north and the king of the south, verse twenty seven says, and as for both these kings, their hearts shall be to do mischief. They shall speak lies at one table, but it shall not prosper. Why not? For yet the end shall be at the time appointed. And he shall return into his land with great substance. His heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall do his pleasure and return to his own land. And that won't be the end. It will look as if it's going to be. It won't be. So Daniel is told. What about the third one then? Verse twenty nine: At the time appointed, he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be in the latter time as it was in the former, for ships of Kittim shall come against him. Therefore he shall be grieved and shall return and have indignation against the holy covenant and shall do his pleasure. He shall even return and have regard unto them that forsake the holy covenant, and arms shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate, and such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries. You say, well, this is the end then. When Antiochus Epiphanes assaulted the temple and put the abomination of desolation in it, this surely was the end. And the Lord come, no, he didn't. It was a desperate persecution. It wasn't the end. Do you see? And we are told, verse thirty five. and some of them that be wise shall fall to refine them and to purify and to make them white, even to the, now notice the phrase, the time of the end. Not the end of times, but the time of the end. The time of the end is that last week of Daniel's prophecy in chapter nine. Half of it's going to last a time, times, and half a time. That's how long it shall be. That is the time of the end, at the end of which the Lord shall come. You see. So now the fourth one. And the king shall do according to his will. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation be accompanied, for that which is determined shall be done. And the way the king is described, and we haven't time to look at the detail now, I give you the suggestion. Read that passage, Daniel eleven thirty six to forty five, and then read two Thessalonians chapter two about the Antichrist that shall come. He shall do as this king is said to do. This is the prophecy of the end time when the Antichrist shall come. We're told then that at that time Michael, for chapter twelve, shall stand up, that great prince which standeth for the children of thy people. There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. This is what our Lord warned us about. He said that there would be at that time a time of tribulation, the like of which had never been before and would never be again. There shall come that time of tribulation. Notice, however, what he says, uh, Josie, and everyone that shall be found written in the book shall be saved. We mustn't let the announcement of this great time of tribulation shake our faith in salvation. Every time that great tribulation is mentioned, God has written beside it that the elect shall be saved. Some shall be lost. Some may be called upon to die, but their faith shall not be broken. They shall be saved. That is a very rough handling of chapter uh eleven and the beginning of chapter twelve. I apologize to Daniel, and I shall do when I meet him, for treating his carefully written detailed chapter so summarily. But that is one of its meanings, given to guide the Jews in the course of history, to expect these fluctuations in history. Yes, to be looking for the coming of Messiah, but to be careful, not to be wise about what is written, and imagine that the end is tomorrow afternoon, when it is not going to be tomorrow afternoon. But we end as we began, with the vision of the man above the river. He was asked, how long shall the end of these things be? Verse six of chapter twelve. and one said to the man clothed in linen, which was above the waters of the river, how long shall it be to the end of these wonders? But you'll have to be careful about that translation. It doesn't mean how long before they start. It means when they start, how long shall they last? How long shall it be once they start till they come to an end? And he set out a, a man clothed in linen above the waters of the river. He held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times and a half. That's three and a half years. And when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. This is our Lord. And we notice finally what determines the end of it? It should be allowed to go on until this persecution has broken the power of the holy people, and hopefully they are brought to repentance. And when the Lord comes, they shall look on him whom they pierced, and there shall be great weeping and repentance. For this is the mercies of God, even though he will take the most severe steps to bring Israel finally to repentance. Meanwhile, says the angel, Daniel, don't worry, you'll soon be going home yourself, you know. You won't need to be bothered too much then about these prophetic things, you see. You'll know the truth. And what is more, Daniel, you will stand in your lot at the end of the days. But we need to take notice of them, don't we? To know what is going to happen. Two Thessalonians chapter two s- tells us in simple, straightforward words, there's coming a great monstrous ruler. He shall deny there's a God out there, shall claim to be God incarnate, and with his minister of religion, he shall demand everybody take his mark in their hand and in their forehead and make life impossible if they don't. That is where it's going. This is not just Daniel, it is the New Testament. We must be ready for it and know how to stand in our own day as we see the tide of history going in that direction. To rise up and make our protest and preach the gospel and to pray against the forces of evil that many might be redeemed against the time of our Lord's coming. Sorry to have gone on so long, but this is my last occasion, do you see? But it's serious, isn't it? Let's just pray. Our Father, we thank thee for thy word. We thank thee for the long centuries of thy care for Israel. We bless thee that thou hast not cast aside the people whom thou didst foreknow. Great and grim have been the disciplines through which they have gone, and shall yet go according to thy word. We bless thee for the intent that lies behind it, that hook or by crook they more may be brought to repentance and to flee for the Savior who alone can save them. So we pray thy blessing on all attempts at this stage to get thy gospel to the Israelis and to the Jews around this world. Bless thy servants, we pray, who distribute thy word and the New Testament in Hebrew. Bless them abundantly, we pray, that there may be many that are bold enough to stand up amongst their people and profess faith in the Lord Jesus. Give us wisdom too, in our day and generation, when England turns its back upon God, and this province too, knowing where it would lead. Oh God, give us wisdom to know what to say and how to say it, and how to take our stand effectively in our modern generation. Put it into the hearts of the young Christian people to study thy word and to know thy will and to know thy purposes, that they may be fully armed by the sword of thy spirit for the conflicts that lie ahead. So now we commit ourselves to thee and thank thee for these refreshments and those who provided it, and ask thine evening blessing through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.